Novice

I am leaving at the end of May, and I have actually seen airline prices come down. But when you find a reasonable price for a flight, the airport taxes are OUTRAGEOUS for international flights. I believe in security but I didn't realize that they were adding an additional $100 in taxes. They have not done this to US domestic flights.<BR><BR>So I am looking for one more airsale for summer. I could also use suggestions for a REALLY good consilidator. Lately, Flights.com has not had as good prices. <BR><BR>Thanks!

Dan

Where are you going from/to?<BR><BR>Are your dates flexible?

Wilma

www.travelteam.com seems to have the best prices, and these have also been competitive: onetravel.com and autoeurope.com. this after spending HOURS looking for flights on the internet, and travelling to Europe three times so far this year. These prices are from Seattle, I don't know if they have similar deals from other cities.

Novice

Hi Dan:I live in Texas. I was thinking about using some of my travel miles to get to a gateway city then flying roundtrip to London from there. I work at a university and cannot leave until May 23-May 30. I will return around June 14th.<BR><BR>I was trying to find the cheapest fares from either New York, New Jersey, Boston, Philidelphia.<BR><BR>Wilma: Thank you for the websites...I will check them out.<BR><BR>I would appreciate any other input. Also wondering, should I buy now or wait another week? There is a sale going on now, but the prices only go to the 15th of May.<BR><BR>

Rex

See also www.thejoyoftravel.com (nothing really on their website, but their phone number - - 1-888-AIR-TIXX, I think).<BR><BR>And these taxes have changed little in the last several years. they have been well above $50 for a long time. Now crept up into the $65-90-ish range. I't a privilege that the majority of Americans don't enjoy, so I shrug my shoulders and pay it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Christina

They just had an ad in the paper here (Wash DC) yesterday about a big United sale which included plenty of European destinations. Fares were pretty good and went into June, I think. <BR><BR>I wondered where you got that information about $100 for security fees on international tickets. Since you have never flown overseas before (is that right?) perhaps you aren't aware taxes on international tickets have always been about $75-100 on a RT ticket. The only security fees I have seen have been on US tickets, actually, around $5-10, I think. I just bought an expensive summer fare to Europe $950 total) on an open-jaw itinerary with some less-traveled cities and the total taxes and fees on that were only $69 which is around what they always have been.

Gretchen

I think Novice was surprised at the added on taxes from a published air fare. I agree with Rex and Christina that those have not gone up much in several years--have always been there. It is a few dollars more for security issues and some airports (Denver, e.g) have big taxes added.

Novice

Hi Christina!<BR>This will be my first trip to Europe and I was shocked at the taxes! The airfares themselves are actually quite good. If I could leave now, I could fly out of New York for about $300. With tax ($128) rises to $428. Of course, after the 15th of May - when I can travel - prices go up. <BR><BR>It is almost like a luxury surcharge is being placed on international flyers. Not all of us run around with the Trumps!<BR><BR>Please continue to post - I am getting some excellent advice here.

x

Christina, it seems to me too that these taxes have just materialized, although I admit I may have just never noticed them before. For example, I'll look up flights on travelocity that cost $509, and when I hit "buy" it mysteriously turns into $588. I hadn't noticed that in the past.

Leslie

Regarding the "taxes" added to US - Europe airfares... I'm a bit skeptical and wonder what others can add to this discussion.<BR><BR>I have read at least one article about the marketing gimmick that had caught on lately, of advertising a price without 'taxes' as a come on. I don't think we have a phenomenon of taxes going up so much as a new trend of carving taxes out of the fare for the initial step in the "sale" or for the advertisement. This is all slightly more clever than the ridiculous practice of advertising a 'one-way' fare based on roundtrip purchase! <BR><BR>For example, in researching fares for a Feb 02 trip LAX to London Heathrow, I was using FF miles on American and my travel mate needed to purchase a ticket. Amercian Airlines ran an ad in the newspaper for an LA to London fare which grew by almost $100 when one actually went to book the fare, this being attributable to fees and tax. Yet, AA said I would have to pay the 'taxes' on my FF ticket which amounted to only $41. Why would the taxes be different on one ticket than on the other?<BR><BR>My point is, that even some of the so-called taxes may be bogus and one has to wonder why the FCC ('truth in advertising') folks haven't cracked down on this.<BR><BR>

Leslie

Regarding the "taxes" added to US - Europe airfares... I'm a bit skeptical and wonder what others can add to this discussion.<BR><BR>I have read at least one article about the marketing gimmick that had caught on lately, of advertising a price without 'taxes' as a come on. I don't think we have a phenomenon of taxes going up so much as a new trend of carving taxes out of the fare for the initial step in the "sale" or for the advertisement. This is all slightly more clever than the ridiculous practice of advertising a 'one-way' fare based on roundtrip purchase! <BR><BR>For example, in researching fares for a Feb 02 trip LAX to London Heathrow, I was using FF miles on American and my travel mate needed to purchase a ticket. Amercian Airlines ran an ad in the newspaper for an LA to London fare which grew by almost $100 when one actually went to book the fare, this being attributable to fees and tax. Yet, AA said I would have to pay the 'taxes' on my FF ticket which amounted to only $41. Why would the taxes be different on one ticket than on the other?<BR><BR>My point is, that even some of the so-called taxes may be bogus and one has to wonder why the FTC ('truth in advertising') folks haven't cracked down on this.<BR><BR>

Ann

Most of the airlines' websites these days include tax in the ticket price. In fact, I check many (United, BA, Virgin, Continental, USAir, American, Air Canada, British Midland) on a regular basis, and they all include tax.<BR><BR>The taxes have not changed recently. There are some additional small security-related taxes, but the others have always been there. It's part of the price of a ticket. I've never had a problem with it. I've never paid more than $600 for a roundtrip ticket to Europe including tax, even in high season. Just think: I'm traveling 7,000 miles for $600. That's about 85 cents a mile. That's cheap in my book.

Patrick

You raise a good point, Leslie. I know that on my FF tickets this summer to London, Amsterdam, and return from Paris, the total taxes that I had to pay (and clearly separated on the ticket) amounted to a total of $30.10. What is all this stuff about $100 in taxes??

abc

Just went to British Airways site which I check quite often and this is the first time I have seen the tax not included. They post $95 one way tax not included. This for Philadelphia to London.

Diana

Also, depends on what web sites you are looking at whether the tax is included in the quoted price or not. Expedia includes it but Travelocity does not. At first glance, one would think the price on Expedia is higher for the same flights, but the price does not increase as you go through the booking process. On Travelocity, what you see initially is NOT what you end up paying. One of the reasons I prefer Expedia. I feel like it's a more honest approach.

Dan

Well I don't know what kind of fare you're looking for, but if you can travel on Wednesdays you can get $485<BR>roundtrip non-stops from Newark and Boston. I ran May 29 June 12 on Orbitz. Orbitz charges $5, but you can usually call the airlines yourself. Good luck.

Diana

Ref the tax -- last year vs this year<BR><BR>I found the email itinerary from Expedia for my ticket to Paris last year. The air fare was $478 and the taxes were $55.60.<BR><BR>This year, same routing, same airline (Continental): air fare $524 (as of today) and taxes $68.70. Not much of an increase.<BR><BR>(Also ref my earlier post about Expedia vs Travelocity: I found this evening that sometimes Travelocity shows you the full inclusive fare and sometimes it shows "Round trip not including applicable charges." I haven't figured out what options I'm selecting to get it shown different ways on the same site.)

Novice

Dan, is that with or without taxes?

Jessica

Just thought I would put my "two cents" in on the tax question - international tickets include all kinds of different taxes, including US tax (I think it's about around $24.80), taxes from the departure country (which vary), the new security tax, passenger facility charges, and customs taxes. This can very easily add up to $100, give or take. Some of these taxes are not charged on the FF tickets, such as the US tax, since it is a "free" ticket, resulting in a lower tax price. Whatever happened to using a travel agent?

Tom

The disappearance of commissions paid to travel agents is causing the disappearance of travel agents.<BR>